Calif. doctors weary as hospitals near capacity

As the first COVID-19 vaccinations are underway throughout the US, the nation struggles to contain a surge so alarming it has spurred California to dispense thousands of body bags and line up refrigerated morgue trucks.

With new cases of the infection in California averaging more than 32,000 a day, nearly as many the entire U.S. was seeing just three months ago, hospitals in parts of the state are running out of space in intensive care wards.

The number of available intensive care unit beds in California's San Joaquin Valley is hovering near zero.

The region, made up of twelve counties in central California, was ordered to follow the strictest anti-COVID-19 rules under a new state stay-at-home order that aims to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed by restricting infectious contacts.

In Fresno County, officials said just a few ICU beds remained available and were filling rapidly.

To keep up, the county's hospital system has contracted with a Virginia company to supply doctors, nurses and others to staff a temporary 50-bed facility that will start receiving patients by the end of the week.

California is distributing 5,000 body bags mostly to the hard-hit Los Angeles and San Diego areas and has 60 refrigerated trailers standing by as makeshift morgues as deaths surge.

The state is averaging 163 virus deaths per day, up from 63 just two weeks ago.

(Image Credit: AP)